Don’t cycle home alone: Nijmegen’s Radboud University has just issued an official warning to all students, following a horrific encounter near Goffert Park.
According to VOX, Radboud University’s official magazine, the incident involved an incoming student from the Faculty of Arts.
While she was cycling home from one of Radboud’s orientation week activities, there was an attempt to force her into a car and carry her off. Thankfully, the victim was able to escape.
There’s safety in numbers, says orientation coordinators
“Our concerns are with the victim,” Radboud orientation coordinator Elke Moser Melis tells VOX. “She is also getting support in filing a report, and a confidential advisor has been called in.”
Fearing a repeat attempt by the same aspiring kidnapper(s), Melis and other members of the introduction team sent out a WhatsApp message to all the orientation committees:
“Unfortunately, yesterday we almost had a situation where one of our students was involuntarily taken in a car on the way back from an activity. I’m asking you to ensure that students don’t cycle home alone and to pay extra attention to ensuring everyone gets home safely.”
Radboud students want more practical measures
“Never cycling alone is difficult,” one student tells Omroep Gelderland. They point out that most students live in different locations, making it unfeasible to cycle together for the entirety of a journey.
One solution that students have landed on is the “toothbrush selfie”, which is a picture of yourself brushing your teeth, so that your friends know you’ve got home safely.
However, as highlighted by police chief Gert Veurink, this doesn’t solve the crux of the issue and puts the burden of safety solely on potential victims (typically women).
“I was raised with the idea: you don’t let girls cycle home alone. You make sure they get home safely,” Veurink says in an interview with Omroep Gelderland.
“Yet, the question increasingly being asked on social media is: isn’t that also a kind of victim-blaming? Why shouldn’t women be allowed to cycle home alone? Those are conversations we need to have together.”
What solutions would you propose for incidents like this? Tell us your thoughts in the comments below!
The incident is very worrying. The police must take strong measures. First, they must locate those who attempted this kidnapping, and second, they must pay closer attention to the students. My daughter just arrived in that city and at that exchange university, and I’ll never be able to rest easy.